Welt for boots and shoes



W. B. ARNOLD, DEC'D.

A. L. ARNOLD AND l. B. STUDLYEY, EXECUTORSY.

WELT Foa Boos ANn'SHoES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I, 1919.

1,357,677, Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

, InVeut'uZor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM B. ARNOLD, 0F NORTH ABINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS; ABBIE L. ARNOLD AND J. BUTLER STUDLEY EXECTORS OF SAID WILLIAM B. ARNOLD, DECEASED.

WELT FOR BOTS AND SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, W'ILLIAM B. ARNOLD, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Abington, county of Plymouth, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in 1Welts for Boots and Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

T he invention to be hereinafter described relates to weltsfor boots and shoes as an article of manufacture.

In curving a welt around the toe of a boot or slice, heretofore considerable difficulty and objection have been experienced because of the tendency of the body of the welt to bulge or deform and depart from its ideal fiat condition. One of the objects of the present invention, therefore, is to so form the inner edge portion of the welt that the body of the welt may readily be bent or curved as required without substantial deformation from flat condition.

In presenting the welt to the upper, it is customary laterally to bend the inner edge portion of the welt at an angle to the body of the welt, in order that the stitching for securing the welt to the upper and inner sole of the boot or shoe may emerge through the grain face of the welt, and that a substantial thickness of leather may serve securely to hold the stitching and prevent the latter from tearing through the welt. Another object of the invention is to so form the inner edge portion of the welt, that it may readily be bent laterally for the purpose 'set forth.

The grain face of leather is impervious to water while the flesh face readily absorbs water. Heretofore a portion of the grain face nearest the inner edge of the welt has been skived off to facilitate application of the welt to the shoe. As a consequence, a portion of the grain face is lost where it is most needed to prevent water from lea-king into the shoe. Another object of the invention is to provide a welt which is readily conformable to the shoe, but retains the grain face portion, which has been heretofore skived off, thereby materially contributing to water tight construction.

In carrying the invention into practical effect, in the present instance, the inner edge of the welt is provided with a relatively small pliability promoting longitudinal groove extending the length of the welt, the construction being such that transverse and longitudinal flexion of the welt is facilitated, but without objectionably weakening the welt.

The character of the invention may be best understood by refernce to the following description of one good form thereof shown in the accompanying drawing, wherem:-

Figure l is a vertical transverse section through a boot or shoe having a welt embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale is a sectional view of the upper and insole and a welt embodying the invention connected thereto by stitching;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 showing the appearance of the parts after the trimming operation;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the welt before the stitching anchoring channel and the pliability promoting groove are formed therein;

Fig. 5 is a' transverse section through the welt after the stitching anchoring channel and the pliability promoting groove `are formed therein; and Fig. 6 on an enlarged scale is an isometric view of the welt.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the welt shown therein as one good form of the invention may be of leather or other suitable material and of any length desired1 as an article of manufacture. This welt comprises a body l having a flesh face 3, an opposed grain face 5, an outer edge 7 and an inner edge 9, said edges being beveled substantially as shown.

The welt may have a suitable shoulder or means for anchoring the stitching thereto. In the present instance of the invention, it is provided with a channel ll (Figs. 5 and 6) extending longitudinally thereof adjacent thel inner edge of the welt and having a wall 13 which desirably may be parallel or nearly parallel to the inner beveled edge of the welt, and having a wall l5 which desirably may be curved or inclined toward and to meet the wall 18.

To promote pliability of the welt, the inner edge portion thereof may have a groove extending` longitudinally thereof, in the present instance, a groove 17 being provided in the inner beveled edge, relatively small as compared to the widtli'of said edge and eX- tending a slight distance into the body of the welt. Freferably this groove 1'? is located near to the grain face of the welt to leave Va substantial amount of welt material between the groove and the line of uncture of the beveled edge with the fiesh face of the welt.

A welt thus formed has a thin lip 19 eX- tending longitudinally thereof adjacent theVV grain Vface ofthe welt, 'and a thicker, dif ferently shaped lip 21 located intermediate the stitching anchoring` channelV and the groove, and extending longitudinally of the welt. Y

1n applying the welt to a boot or shoe, the inner edge portion thereof may be bent laterally so that a portion of its grain face will rest against the upper 23, indicated in Fig. 2.v The upper 23 and its lining V25 may be vconfined between-the welt and the shoulder 27 of the inner sole, and the parts may be secured together by stitching 29 anchored in the stitching receiving channel 11 of the welt and in the stitching receiving channel 31 of the inner sole 30.

When the welt is bent laterally as described, the lip 21 will be bent to bring` the wall 13 ofthe stitching receiving channel toward and preferably to the wall 15 of said channel, and the lip 19 will be bent toward and into engagement with the lip 21.

substantially as shown in Fig. 2.V Then the welt is thus bent, the groove 17 will be moved out of the line of pull of the stitching 29 out to the plane of thefiesh face of the welt, and a substantial thickness of welt stock will be between the bottom of the channel 11 and the adjacent face of the upper, effectively to resist tearing of the threads from the welt.

' As stated, in curving the welt around the toe of a boot orV shoe, there is a tendency `for the welt to bulge or deform and depart from its ideal fiat condition. AThe groove 17.- desirably promotes the flexibility of the welt and enables the samereadily to be bent or curved as required without substantial deformation from fiat condition. rThis flexibility is obtained by the lip 19 and is contributed to by the lip 21'interposed between the lip 19 and the stitching receiving channel 11. VWhen said lips have bent laterally so that they assume their positions shown in Fig. 2, the curving of the welt in the plane of the body. thereof, curves the lips 19 and 21 transversely thereof, and since these lips are relatively thin, they readily respond to the curving operation and do not objectionably cramp or congest and interfere with the curving of the remainder of the body of the welt. The beveled outer and stitching from the welt.

b A. l The construction described has a further advantage in great reduction if not entire elimination of welt stock to be removed inV the trimming operation; In Fig. 3 the condition of the welt's vrepresented after the trimming operation, and it will be noted that'very little welt stock has been removed, and if the trimming occurred in a plane somewhat farther outward, no welt stock would be removed. Y

vAfter the welt has been secured to the upper and inner sole by the stitching as described, the outer sole 33 may be presented thereto and securedby lines of stitching 35 passing through the weltand the outer sole in the usual manner. The outer edge of the welt and the outer edge of the sole may be'trimmed bythe rough rounder into Vapproximate shape, .the amount of material taken off varying to suit the type or styley of shoe. V

By my invention is-provided a strong, eiicient .welt which is rendered readily pliable or flexible to permit the welt easily to be flexed about 0r applied to the shoe without bulging or deforming the welt, and there-V fore, materially contributes toward the production of a perfect product.

Also the portion of the grain faceof the welt adjacent. the'inner edge thereof is retained so that a wide portion of the grain face is available for contact with the upper, thereby materially contributing to water tight construction. f

1t will be understood that the invention is not `limited to the specific embodiment shown, but that various deviations may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

FWhat is claimed is 1. A welt for boots and shoes, comprising a body having opposed faces and inner and Vouter edges, the inner edge being provided with a longitudinal groove relativelysmall as compared to the width of said inner edge, to increase the flexibility of the welt transversely to and in the plane ofthe welt and thereby facilitate application thereofto a boot or shoe, said groove lying entirely to one sideof the stitching securing the welt to the upper.

2. A` welt for boots and shoes, comprising a body having grain and flesh faces and inner and outer edges, a stitch receiving channel in the flesh face of the welt, and a relatively small longitudinal groove in the inner edge near the grain face and movable from the line of pull of the stitching out to the plane of the flesh face on lateral exion of the inner edge to position for application to a boot or shoe.

3. A Welt for boots and shoes, comprising a body having grain and flesh faces, an inner beveled edge and an outer edge, and a relatively small groove in the inner beveled edge extending parallel to a face of the Welt for increasing the transverse and longitudinal pliability of the Welt.

4. A Welt for boots and shoes, comprising a body having inner and outer edges, and a pair of longitudinal grooves in the inner edge portion of the Welt, one of said grooves being adapted to form a shoulder for anchoring the stitching for securing the Welt to the upper and inner sole of a boot or shoe, and the other groove being smaller than the stitching receiving groove and ladapted to promote flexion of the Welt in the piane of the body thereof.

5. A Welt for boots and shoes, comprising a body having opposed faces and inner and outer beveled edges, a stitching receiving groove in one of said faces, and a relatively small ieXion promoting groove in the inner beveled edge adjacent the other face.

6. A Welt for boots and shoes, comprising a body having grain and flesh faces and inner and outer edges, the inner edge having a relatively small longitudinal groove eX- tending parallel to a face of the Welt for increasing the transverse and longitudinal pliability of the Welt', said groove lying entirely to one side of the stitching securing the Welt to the upper.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAII` B. ARNOLD. 

